The North American members of the Society of International Thoroughbred Auctioneers (SITA) have ratified two changes to the guidelines for North American black type races for 2006.

The changes were recommended by the North American representatives of the International Cataloguing Standards Committee (ICSC) and, according to the two organizations, are being made to further maintain standards of integrity for black type in North America.

Beginning in 2006:

Races that contain preference clauses based on criteria other than the quality of the horse in the race shall be considered restricted races.

All entries in a race must be eligible for the purse monies used to determine the minimum purse value for black type status or listed status.

In addition to these changes, the minimum purse value for North American black type races in 2006 will remain at $40,000, which must be distributed on the day of the race.